Hi, I am considering switching to NixOS and I was wondering what level of hassle I should expect for gaming.
I have been using linux for about 10 months so I don't know a lot yet. I am wondering if it is worth it to try gaming on Nix or if it is going to be way too much of a headache considering my limited knowledge.
I've had wildly different experiences trying gaming on different distros, and very differently from what I expected. It went from fine for a weird niche distro (antiX), to really awful for a distro supposedly "easy" and "good for gaming" (Manjaro ๐), to absolutely amazing gaming distro (Nobara), and finally to surprisingly good for a "don't try unless you are a Level 99 Tech Wizard dual-classed Zen Master you idiot" distro (Arch). So I really have no clue what to expect from Nix.
I really like Arch but my main issue is that I keep forgetting what I have already configured and how and with which settings, or I leave stuff partially configured because adhd then I forget it wasn't finished and where I was at, so using config files instead sound insanely more convenient and I've been wanting to try Nix for a while.
I'd be really glad for anyone willing to share their experience of gaming on Nix ๐
Search the manual for
support32Bitconfiguration options, likehardware.opengl.support32Bit,hardware.pulseaudio.support32Bit, orservices.pipewire.alsa.support32Bit. Any 32-bit games, as well as Steam itself, will need these to get their GL and PA/ALSA libraries set up properly.You may also want to look up what
programs.nix-ld.enabledoes, although I hear that there's a better harness builtin as of NixOS 24.05.All that said, everything Just Worked when I last tried. I haven't run Steam in a while, though. I do use Retroarch and OBS without problems, though, streaming PS4 speedruns to Youtube or Peertube, and that all works out-of-box.
Thanks for the tip I always forget about the 32 bit thing and then wonder why stuff doesn't work ๐